6.1 magnitude earthquake kills at least 22 in southwestern China

At least four people were killed on Saturday when a strong earthquake with an intensity of 6.1 on the Richter scale struck two provinces in quake-prone southwest China.

One person was killed in Miyi county and another in Lihui county in Sichuan Province and two others died in Yuanmo County in the neighboring Yunnan Province where eight people were also injured, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

One person died when a house collapsed in Zhongchang Township in Lihui County. The quake struck at 1630 hrs (1400 IST). The epicentre was located about 50 km southeast of Panzhihua city, the National Seismograph Network Centre said.

Aftershocks that are common phenomenon after strong quakes also affected adjacent Huili county, in Sichuan, and Yongren county, in Yunnan, according to the local Seismological Bureau. Houses were damaged at both the counties however no casualties or destruction of property were reported from the urban area of Panzhihua City.

"Locals in the county rushed out into the open. Cracks appeared on house walls and many windows were broken," a local legislator Zheng Zhouwei said.

Tremor was also experienced at Yunan's capital, Kunming, which is about 300 km from the epicenter and Sichuan's capital, Chengdu. Many residents were staying outside their houses after the quake.

A severe 7.9 magnitude earthquake had earlier hit in Sichuan province on May 12 that had left 70, 000 dead and five million homeless.

Earthquake Details Magnitude 5.7

Date-Time * Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 08:30:52 UTC * Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 04:30:52 PM at epicenter *

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 26.277°N, 101.915°E Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program Region SICHUAN-YUNNAN BORDER REGION, CHINA

Distances 35 km (20 miles) SSE of Panzhihua (Dukou), Sichuan, China 160 km (100 miles) NNW of Kunming, Yunnan, China 585 km (360 miles) SW of Chongqing, Chongqing, China 2025 km (1260 miles) SW of BEIJING, Beijing, China Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5 km (3.1 miles); depth fixed by location program Parameters NST=154, Nph=154, Dmin=865.1 km, Rmss=1.08 sec, Gp= 25°, M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8 Source * USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Event ID us2008wia8

At least 22 people were killed, over 126 injured and thousands of houses destroyed today when a strong earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit quake-prone southwest China region.
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale also hit Hejing County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region today but no casualty has been reported.

Latest reports said 17 people were reported dead and about 100 others injured in Panzhihua city in Sichuan, and five others dead and 26 other injured in neighbouring Yunnan Province.

The quake struck the juncture of Renhe District of Panzhihua and Huili County of Liangshan Prefecture at 4:30 p.M. (2:00 p.M. IST). The epicentre was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua, the National Seismograph Network Centre said.

In Panzhihua, a 54-year-old man was killed in debris in Miyi County and another person was killed Yanbian County. Nearly 1,000 houses were destroyed and cracks appeared in walls of more than 400 houses, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the affected counties of Liangshan Prefecture, 86 people were injured, and many houses were destroyed. The number of people buried in the ruins were not immediately available.

The quake also affected Chuxiong Prefecture in Yunnan Province, leaving five people dead and 26 others were injured, 11 severely, a prefecture government official said.

The casualties in Yunnan were reported in Yongren, Yuanmou, Wuding and Dayao counties, in which four deaths were in Yuanmou, about 55 km from the epicentre, and another in Yongren, about 30 km from the epicentre